Washington Nationals news & notes: Josiah Gray and Jake Irvin on Saturday night in ST…

Opening Day Gray:

Josiah Gray’s seven walks last week weren’t ideal, but he managed to limit his walks. houston astros He got 1 point with 5 hits in 5 innings.

Gray told reporters after the start that although he has crawled his way out of situations in the past, he realizes he shouldn’t put himself in such situations.

“Every time you go out and hold that line, it’s like, ‘Here we go again,’” Gray said. Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASN.

“I shouldn’t put myself in that position.”

His manager suggested that Gray may have been pushed a little too hard after being named the Nationals’ 2024 Opening Day starter before the trip.

“I could see he started work a little early. I told him, ‘Please take it easy.’ Just focus on one thing. Just focus on your direction. I have to slow down. ”

Mr Gray acknowledged that although the damages were limited, the overall outcome was not ideal or acceptable.

“It’s not a fun outing at all,” he said. “Just kind of struggling and going through things. On some walks, it felt like I was spraying the ball all around. On some other walks, I felt like I was missing them. We were lucky that we only conceded one run today, but things might be a little different with so many runners.”

“His pitching shape was really good,” Martinez said of Gray’s penultimate appearance this spring.

“His direction can be a little wacky sometimes. I talked to him about it: ‘The head has to go towards the catcher.’ Once you do that, it’s really good. … It’s just figuring out what makes you so good, and that’s your direction. ”

But Martinez has seen enough of Gray’s development over the past few seasons that he named the 26-year-old right-hander the Opening Day starter.

“He’s grown so much since the first day I met him,” Martinez said. Quoted by Jessica Camerato of MLB.com:

“He’s changed a lot, even after the struggles he had last year. Coming to camp, he’s changed a lot in terms of growth. He understands who he is and he has to work on it instead of reinventing the wheel. …I’m proud of him. We asked him to do some things over the winter and he did it. He came into camp in great shape. I’m here and I’m ready.”

Gray struggled in the tough second half of the 2023 campaign (with 5.79 ERA, 5.40 FIP, .252/.372/.392 batting average in 37 games. ¹⁄₃ IP from July 16th to August 28th), But over the final month of the season, he posted a 2.95 ERA, 4.94 FIP, and a .241/.322/.430 line in four starts and 21 games. ¹⁄₃ IP, lowered his ERA that year to 3.91.

Gray ended his spring by pitching last night, pitching four innings and allowing a total of seven hits (Two of them were first home runs.), walked one and allowed five earned runs, striking out a total of seven batters in a 5-3 loss to the Marlins in Miami.

He finished the spring with a 6.61 ERA, 13 walks, 25 Ks and a .288 BAA, but said he was satisfied with his work, if not the numbers.

“Statistically, it wasn’t very good,” Gray admitted. Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASN After the match:

“That’s how you look at it. But I always think about each outing separately. …I think it’s been a pretty good spring. What I’ve been working on is improving my weapons. But I think there’s still a lot of things to jump on. I’m really looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow and seeing where I can improve.”

Irvin’s outing:

Jake Irvin appeared in his first two games as a reliever this spring, but in his next consecutive starts he pitched nine scoreless innings, with 10 strikeouts, only five hits, and no walks.

New York’s 2018 fourth-round pick mets The Miami Marlins were held to 2 hits in 4 scoreless games, but were held to 1 hit in 5 scoreless games after that and had 5 Ks in each start.

Irving credited his manager for allowing him to focus on getting outs instead of working in a competitive environment like he did earlier this spring.

“Work on what you need to work on, but do it in the bullpen,” Martinez told his right-hander. Broadcast by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman.

“When you’re in the game, you’re here to compete. Forget everything and start getting outs. And he took that to heart.”

“He brought my focus back to the competition, which was the jolt I needed,” Irvin said.

“I have a lot of respect for him. His words really resonate with me. It was good to hear that from him. I’ve made the adjustments, so now it’s just about competing.”

Irvin ended the spring with another scoreless start. st louis cardinals He gave up one hit, walked two, and struck out three batters, tied the score at 2-2.

Irvin had a four-seamer success rate of 46 percent in this game, averaged 94.2 mph on his fastball, and earned three of the seven swinging strikes and eight of the 14 called strikes on the day.

He mixed his curves (22%, 2 swings, 2 cold strikes),sinker(18%, 2 strike calls), then the cutter (14%, 2CS), Washington Post reporter Spencer Nussbaum noted that Cutter’s usage as an additional offer this spring was about the average he pitched in three starts.

“He’s been working all spring training to get better,” the manager said after the game. Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASN. “And he’s throwing the ball really well.”

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